


Lead Me Not Into Temptation

by dillonmania



Series: The Dillonsverse [5]
Category: DCU - Comicverse, The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Family, Gen, Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-10
Updated: 2012-11-10
Packaged: 2017-11-18 08:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/559107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dillonmania/pseuds/dillonmania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Old habits can be difficult to leave behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lead Me Not Into Temptation

The trip had started innocently enough, a day of shopping like any other. Lisa dragged Roscoe and the kids through a boring grocery expedition, and then she browsed a few other stores in the plaza while they restlessly wandered around looking at things which mildly interested them. The kids drooled over toys, and their bored dad looked at electronics (toys with a more respectable name).

But as Roscoe examined the smartphones and other gadgets, he was suddenly struck by an urge which hadn’t bothered him in years: the desire to steal. Shocked, he took a step back from the merchandise. He was mostly a law-abiding citizen now, one who didn’t do anything worse than run the occasional stop sign and download pirated movies. He had a wife and kids, and his wife was reformed too. They’d kept some of the ill-gotten gains the police never knew to confiscate, but had agreed for the sake of the children that they’d stay out of trouble. And now he felt an overwhelming urge to steal.

It would be so easy; in addition to being an experienced thief, he had telekinesis and mind-control powers which would let him take anything he wanted. He didn’t even care what he took, just that he’d be getting a scam over everyone else. That he’d be accomplishing something secretive and bad, and showing he wasn’t as domesticated as people believed. But he knew he shouldn’t do it, that Lisa would be disappointed and upset, and his entire family thrown into turmoil if he was caught.  
 _But I won’t get caught_ , he thought defiantly to himself, reaching for one of the phones. It wasn’t even a particularly expensive model, though he didn’t care. It would be his and no one could take the achievement away from him.

There was very little difficulty sneaking it out of the store, as he simply disabled the merchandise alarms with telekinesis before walking out. No alarm went off and no security guard followed him; he was gleeful and triumphant as he waltzed through the mall with his prize. He’d done it and it had been so easy and enjoyable, just like old times.

However, it didn’t take long for remorse to set in. What had he been thinking..? What if he _had_ gotten caught, would he go to jail? How would he explain what he’d done to his kids? He wasn’t supposed to steal these days; he was expected to be a good role model and lawfully provide for his family. Lisa trusted him and the kids looked up to him, and he’d let them all down.  
“Fuck,” he muttered to himself, wracked with guilt. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and hated it, suddenly seeing it as the source of his problems. He nearly threw it away, but decided it might be needed and put it back again.

He was pale and clearly bothered about something by the time Lisa and the kids caught up with him at the food court.  
“What’s wrong?” she asked curiously, wondering if he was just unhappy about the length of her shopping trip, as happened fairly regularly.  
He wouldn’t look at her. “I…stole something.”  
“You _what_? Why?”  
“I don’t know. Just needed to for some reason.”

She sat down across from him and kept her voice low so the children and passersby couldn’t hear. “What the hell did you take?”  
Silently he pulled the phone from his pocket and placed it on the table, his face very unhappy. “Should I return it?”  
“No way, then they’ll know and we’ll both get in trouble. Dispose of it when we get home so nobody can prove anything. Why are you such a dope sometimes?”  
He was starting to look sour rather than guilty. “I made a mistake, and you are not perfect.”  
“Nope, but what if we get our freakin’ kids taken from us? Did you ever think of that?”  
“….no.” The worry had returned.  
“Well, think about it now. Let’s go home and get rid of that thing.”

The kids were quiet on the drive home, having sensed the tension between their parents. Lisa hurriedly got them to sit in front of the television when they returned, and then ushered Roscoe into his workshop. With a slightly wistful expression -- he hated wasting good materials -- he crushed and pulled apart the phone until it was no longer recognizable; even an expert picking through the remains would have had difficulty identifying it. The pieces were swiftly discarded in multiple locations, and Lisa was at least satisfied with his thoroughness.

“So the physical evidence is gone…though they may have surveillance footage of you,” she noted when he was finished. He sighed heavily.  
“I know. I could go back and attempt to destroy the footage, but that’d probably increase my chances of getting on the police’s radar. Just have to hope they never connect the footage to me, I suppose.”  
“Uh-huh, but this was a dumb thing to do. Why’d you do it?”  
“I know it was foolish, but it didn’t seem that way at the time. I just…had an overwhelming compulsion to steal something, to show I could still do it. I don’t know why. Haven’t you ever had an urge you didn’t quite understand?”  
She certainly had, or otherwise she probably wouldn’t have done anything illegal in her younger days. But she was determined not to make this about her.

“Doesn’t matter. You can’t give into it again. I don’t want to always be looking over my shoulder or worrying that the cops are going to come after one or both of us. Or that someone might take our kids.”  
“Not to put too fine a point on it, but thanks to your brother they might do that anyway.”  
“Don’t bring Lenny into this,” she said firmly, though privately worrying that he was right. Len wasn’t allowed to tell the kids about any criminal activities, and fastidiously kept his family life and crime world separate, but the police might not make that distinction.  
“I don’t see why not; if I’m going to get screwed I’d rather it was the result of something _I_ did, and not because of some other jerk,” he replied with a petulant scowl, well aware he was treading on thin ice. “He’s a risk to us all, and you getting angry at me is pretty rich. Yes, I should have kept my sticky fingers to myself, but I’m not the only one causing trouble in this family.”  
Lisa’s furious expression told him he was going to be sorry he said that, but she turned and stormed away instead of yelling. The bedroom door slammed behind her, and she stayed in there for hours.

Dinner that evening was a quiet affair; with Lisa keeping to herself, Roscoe made a slapdash meal for the kids with his meager culinary skills.  
“Your dinners are yucky. Where’s Mommy?” Nate complained, and his father silently pleaded with the heavens for patience.  
“She’s having a bad day, so we’re eating beans tonight.”  
“Now we’re all having a bad day,” Star grumbled, and Roscoe chuckled despite himself.  
“It could be worse, guys.” _For instance, it could be prison food_ , he thought ruefully. He knew that ultimately the entire situation was his fault, even if Lisa wasn’t responding as supportively as he’d like, and decided to take some food to her after the kids had finished eating. A peace offering.

Lisa opened the door when he knocked, looking a bit rumpled. She’d obviously been sleeping for a while.  
“Oh hey, thanks,” she said with a slight wrinkling of the nose when she saw the baked beans. They weren’t her favourite either, but it was nice to have something to eat. “Look, I’m sorry I got mad at you,” she said after a few moments. “You’re right about Len, and I guess it makes me scared. I can’t tell him how to live his life and don’t want to cut him out of mine, but I do worry sometimes that we’ll get in trouble because of him.”  
“And I am sorry for starting all this in the first place. It was stupid, and I’ll try very hard not to let it happen again. But I…can’t guarantee it won’t,” Roscoe admitted with an unhappy expression.  
“I know you can’t. Just try.” She knew very well that his behaviour could be difficult to control at times, particularly when he was manic, and perhaps she’d been too hard on him from the beginning. She smiled to alleviate some of his concern. “Trying’s enough.”

He hugged her affectionately and kissed the top of her head. “You’re the greatest.”  
“I know,” she said with a wink. He’d went to the trouble of bringing her dinner and it seemed rude to go make something else, so she started eating the lukewarm beans with her best brave face.  
“Where are the kids?” she asked, and he yawned.  
“Watching a movie before bedtime.”  
“Why don’t we join them?” she suggested. “And then we can entertain ourselves after they go to bed. I did spend most of the evening napping, so I won’t be ready to sleep for a while.”  
“You’re the boss,” he smirked. Regardless of what she meant by ‘entertain ourselves’, it would be time spent with her and he would enjoy it. They took the plate of beans with them and settled in to have a quiet night with the kids.


End file.
